**Warning! You may see graphic content in this chapter**

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A cold hand trailed down my back early Friday morning, paying particular attention to the raised skin from my scars. I hummed, pressing my face further into the pillow my face rested on. It was strange how his hands were always cold, no matter what time of day or where he was. But I enjoyed the cold feeling since I always felt warm.

His hand splayed out on my back and I felt the bed shift followed by soft lips pressing against my back. The touch sent a zap of pleasure through my body.

We'd slept in the same bed every night since the club. My bed specifically since there was no way I would sleep in the little bedroom where all the staff slept too, that would only cause more gossip than already floating around. We didn't even talk about him sleeping in my room, he just let me drag him there every night. And when we weren't busy, we laid in bed and just talked, without mentioning my work or anything even remotely illegal and dangerous.

It turned out that he genuinely worried every time I stepped out of the compound.

There had been no mention of the extent of our relationship, something I much preferred than one of those dreadful 'what are we?' conversations. We just were, and that was perfect for us. We barely had time during our days to spend with each other since my work took preference, as did his. On top of that, Uncle George decided that he wanted to spend more time around the manor, something I had been suggesting for a while now since the loneliness must be unbearable for him without my Uncle Ron.

"You do know I'm awake, right?" I asked, smiling to myself as the kisses traced along my spine.

A brush of air hit my back. "I know," he murmured, leaning his head up next to mine, kissing the back of my head. I curled my arms around my pillow, burrowing into the soft silk pillowcase. "Where is this one from?" he asked softly, tracing a finger over the thin scar trailing from my ear to the back of my neck.

"I was sixteen," I replied, "it was from my first victim in The Courtyard." My words were empty. "He fought back."

Images flashed through my mind of when my father threw me in a room, locked the door, and expected me to gain intel on what the man had wanted from my family. I regretted everything I did until he managed to get hold of my knife due to my sloppiness. My memory blocked out the rest, but all I can remember is his blood splattered all over the room, and my father congratulating me on not being merciful. He was so proud of his little machine.

My father later informed me that it was my own fault I got hurt, while I sat in the infirmary with my uncle Ron, trying to stitch the back of my neck back together again.

Finn brushed a kiss over it. "This one?" His thumb grazed the scar on the back of my right arm.

I huffed a breath. "Remember when I told you about my father wanting us to know what a bullet wound felt like?" I asked rhetorically. "You're looking at it."

His fingers tightened around my arm slightly from my words. He hissed a foul word in regards to my father. "Your father deserves to burn in hell."

My chest warmed at his passionate words. I rolled over in his arms and loosely wrapped my arms around his neck, lazily smiling up at him.

"If I have to lie here and tell you about each scar, we'll be here all day," I whispered, leaning up and placing a soft kiss on his chest. His chest tensed at the touch causing me to kiss it again, knowing I affected him this way.

He brushed some of my curls out of his face and peered down at my face while I was wrapped in his arms. "What about this one? On your eyebrow? I've always noticed it but never had the guts to ask."

I lifted my hand to my right eyebrow where a small scar broke through a section of eyebrow hair. "That one was from my instructor when I was thirteen, we were learning knife handling," I informed him, staring into his blue eyes.

His eyes darkened at the information, his eyes roaming over my face. He leaned down and brushed a featherlight kiss over my eyebrow. I closed my eyes.

With a surge of energy, I pushed on his shoulder until he fell back on the bed and I climbed on top of him. "What about you, huh?" I asked, dragging my nails down his bare chest and back up until I got to his neck. "Where did this one come from?" I pointed to the jagged white scar on his neck.

Finn stared up at me, well less at my face and more at my breasts just sitting there. I smacked his chest to get his attention. He blinked a few times before lifting his eyes to meet mine. My head shook with an amused smile as my nail scratched over his scar. "Wha-?Oh, it was from a patient at The Corner Store, he kept attacking the doctors until I sorted him out."

"Oh, did you have to beat him up?" I asked in a teasing tone, my thighs clenching together at the idea of Finn having to kick someone's ass. God that's hot.

Finn rolled his eyes. "Barely, he slipped with a knife in his hand and knocked himself out."

I leaned my head back, a burst of laughter escaping me. "That's so sexy," I mocked, grinning down at him. He chuckled, his chest moving, causing me to shift with the movement. My nails instinctively dug into his chest from the vibration beneath me and he hissed, his hands gripping my hips roughly. A gasp left my lips and I leaned forward, resting my head against his forehead as I felt him harden beneath me.

One shift of my hips and this conversation would cease. His skin felt smooth under my hands and I bit my lip, debating on whether or not I should take that chance.

Thankfully, he made that choice for us. With one hand he reached a hand out towards my nightstand and opened the drawer, pulling out my quickly depleting stash of condoms and ripping one open.

With his hands on my hips, he lifted me in the air, and I braced my hands on his chest giving him a moment to slip the condom on before lowering me onto him. I sucked in a harsh breath, my head drooping forward letting my hair cover my face.

Finn used one hand to grab a fistful of my hair and throw it over my shoulder. "I want to see your face," he said in a stern tone, sending shivers through me at his directness. I shifted my hips, moaning at the sensations rushing through me.

He raised his hips with every stroke, matching mine. Hands wandered along my thighs, squeezing and rubbing softly up my chest before he stopped to cup my aching breasts. I whimpered at his cold hands, the heat of my skin cooling with his touch.

He sat up, his lips latching onto one nipple and I threw my head back, thrusting my hands in his hair and pulling him against my chest. "Fuck," I cried out, tugging on his hair and grinding against him.

Finn groaned, his touches turning sloppy as they roam over my body, caressing anything within easy reach. His fingers pressed into my hips, moving my body along with his in a sensual and slow rhythm, taking his time.

Finn mumbled something into my chest that I couldn't understand, causing the vibrations to reverberate through my body and my thighs to clench in anticipation. I couldn't find the words to describe the sensation of him in me, filling me completely while focusing on other body parts too, sending my mind into oblivion.

He refused to pick up the pace and every time I tried to, his fingers pressed into my skin, controlling our rhythm.

"Finn," I whimpered, my hips needing to move faster, my stomach muscles tightening.

"That's it, baby," he whispered against my neck before he bit down on my shoulder, finally letting me have some sense of control. It didn't take long before things turned erratic, our chest heaving as we moved together, him lifting his hips to meet mine. At one moment he moved my body up a few inches changing the angle, and I let go, my mind chasing a wave of pleasure as he gripped me tighter, murmuring my name breathlessly onto my burning skin, his fingers clamped onto my thighs.

My whole body felt numb and I slowly came down from my high, resting my head against his shoulder, panting softly. His hands rubbed slow circles on my back, dancing over the sweaty skin there.

I brushed his hair out of his face, tugging on the longer strands on his forehead, needing to feel the silky yet damp hair between my fingers. His eyes roamed over my face, a relaxed and satisfied smile on his face. I bit my lip, feeling the intensity from those damn blue eyes.

He leaned up to kiss me and I placed a hand over his mouth, stopping him. He raised an eyebrow silently. "I am not kissing you with morning breath," I announced, climbing off of him and falling onto the pillows next to him.

He gave me a flat stare, absentmindedly running a hand over his chest. My eyes followed the action intently. "Seriously? You'll have sex first thing in the morning but no kissing?" He asked incredulously.

I gave him a grin. "Yup." I ran a hand through my knotted curls, wincing when my fingers snagged on a particularly rough section. A knock sounded through my bedroom door and I yelled for them to enter.

Finn panicked, grabbing the sheets and throwing them over my naked torso and his bottom half, covering us as Nina, the housekeeper that dealt with my room specifically, walked in holding a tray of food.

She paused in her step, her mouth popped open slightly. "Oh, apologies for the interruption Miss Love," she murmured, placing the tray on my desk before disappearing into my bathroom, hearing the faucet turn on.

Finn gaped. "What the hell was that?" he asked in disbelief, gawking at the bathroom door.

I waved an arm, letting the sheet fall to my waist as I sat up and climbed out of bed. The silk rob felt luxurious on my skin when I slipped it on and tied the bands on my waist. Walking over to the tray, I waved a hand in dismissal to Finn's freak out. "Relax, it's nothing Nina hasn't walked in on before, right Nina?" I called out with a smile.

A soft, "Yes Miss Love," sounded over the running water.

Finn stared at me in shock and shook his head, leaning over to grab his black sweatpants off the floor and put them on while still covered by the sheet. Aw, he's so self-conscious it's adorable. "How many people have slept in your bed?" He asked, coming forward to wrap his arms loosely around my waist, placing a chaste kiss on my neck while I browsed the food options laid out.

Berries, mango, and other fruit sat on one side while pancakes and bacon were on the other. Two steaming mugs of homemade cappuccinos were in the middle next to some shortbread cookies and mini croissants.

"This bed?" I asked, taking a bite of a strawberry before offering him the rest, "Two. But the penthouse bed? I won't say because it'll make you feel inferior in this relationship."

He scoffed, letting go of me and picking up one of the mugs, sipping slowly. "You do know that before you, I had slept with other women, right?" He asked rhetorically, bracing his hip against the side of the desk.

I pouted at him. "Oh baby I know, but I've slept with men and women so I'm in a whole other league compared to you," I said, smirking up at him. "Now come on, eat up, we've got Atticus' graduation later."

"Am I going to that?" he asked, both eyebrows raised.

I tilted my head to the side. "Do you not want to go to it? I'm not forcing you, you don't really know Atticus," I explained, tearing a piece of croissant and shoving it in my mouth, moaning as the flaky and buttery texture touched my tongue.

Finn bit his bottom lip, holding his mug close to his chest. "Do you want me to come?"

Nina shuffled out of my bathroom with a few shirts that were dry clean specific, bowing her head to make her look less noticeable. I shrugged lightly, running my finger along the rim of my mug. "I wouldn't mind showing off my new boy toy to the masses."

A huff left his lips and I glanced up to see him frowning. "So all I am to you is another piece of ass?" He asked, the corners of his lips twitching.

I winked at him, sipping my cappuccino, watching him over the rim. "The hottest piece of ass." I sauntered over to him, running my hand over his arm, and leaned my head against him, fluttering my eyelashes up at him. "So hot, the middle-aged socialite mothers will be vaulting over chairs just to get close to you."

He stared at me, his eyes bright as he hung onto every word with a small smile on his face. The look sent butterflies fluttering off in my stomach.

I let go and made my way to my closet, slipping off the rob with a sly look over my shoulder, and disappeared into the shelves. Slipping on a pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, I twisted on my foot to find Finn leaning against the doorway, eyes wandering over my body. I bit my tongue, not wanting to start something I didn't have time to finish.

He cleared his throat, snapping out of it. "And what? You'll just sit and watch the show while I'm being mauled by wild cougars?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

My lips clamped down on a snort as I walked over to him. "Oh no, I'm bringing my favorite knife, no one touches this ass but me," I said with a wink, smacking his ass.

A squeak interrupted us and I looked up to see Nina standing at the door, her hands clasped together. "Um, Miss Love, Jasper, Elijah, and Amari are waiting outside your room," she informed me.

"Thank you, Nina," I said, watching her silently exit the room again.

Finn grasped my bicep, studying my face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, we just have to wake up the darling graduate." He stared at me, confused. "Amari wanted us all to wake him up, to make it...fun," I ended off, enthusiastically.

He chuckled, dropping a kiss on my cheek. "Sounds like it. I'm going to head to the infirmary, I've got to check in on Santiago's bruised ribs this morning from his fall the other day." He downed the rest of his cappuccino and dropped it off on the tray.

Before we left my room, we agreed to meet in the foyer when it was time to leave for the ceremony. Jasper and Elijah would take Atticus and a few men earlier to scope out the school for my arrival. There had been no word from our parents with a simple congratulations for Atticus today. It was radio silent on their end, most likely because Corinne hadn't informed them about the Xiao's or Shan's finger...or Finn. That was not a conversation I looked forward to.

Stepping out into the hallway, my siblings leaned against the wall, all of them wide awake and waiting patiently. Amari even wore a party hat. My lips twisted in distaste. Both of my brothers eyed Finn leaving my room behind me.

He nodded to them, smiling lightly at Amari before giving me one last lingering glance as he headed down the hallway.

I kept my eyes on my brothers. Elijah broke first. "Lookin' good, Finn," Elijah called out with a whistle and I slugged him in the arm. Finn's head ducked but he didn't look back.

Jasper's frown deepened while he scrutinized the blush forming on Amari's cheeks. Amari shrugged. "He's cute," she said innocently, watching him walk down the hall.

Jasper rolled his eyes. "No, he's not."

I pouted up at him, patting his cheek a little too roughly. "Aw, is someone upset that the attention is not on him?" I asked rhetorically. Jasper smacked my hand away, a scowl on his face. "That's okay, you're still our favorite pretty boy." Elijah's shoulders shook as he walked ahead.

When Amari and Elijah were a few steps ahead I turned to Jasper. "What have you heard of the list?" The fact that no one had tried to kill me since Shan should be good news but I never see the glass half full when people are trying to kill my entire family.

Jasper rubbed the underside of his jaw on our slow walk. "We've found pieces of it, just confirmations of our names and prices but there's a general rumor that people are getting aggravated," he cast a sly glance at me, "apparently we're too hard to kill."

A smug smile touched my lips. Of course, we were. "Any signs of the creator of the list?" I asked, watching Amari press her ear to Atticus' door.

An aggravated sigh left his mouth. "This is the dark web, Ana, not a directory. We can't just Google his name and hope for the best."

My mouth turned down in a scowl. "A simple no would have sufficed, no one likes a drama queen, Jasper." He scoffed, pointedly looking me up and down as if I were living proof of the phrase.

Amari nodded to Elijah who threw open Atticus' door and trampled into his room, yelling and screaming. This whole family was built on drama queens, evidently.

Jasper and I stepped into the spotless bedroom and paused at the scene on the bed. I snapped to attention. "Elijah, try not to choke our brother before he graduates, at least wait until after," I said, waving a hand as I walked further into the room.

Atticus sat on the bed, rubbing his neck and glaring at Elijah with sleep-dazed eyes. Amari lay on the foot of the bed, her arms outstretched with a content smile on her face. "What is happening right now?" Atticus asked, eyeing each of us. "Did someone die?" He asked, suddenly more alert.

Jasper spoke up. "It's your graduation, we wanted to congratulate you early, with family time," each word from his mouth curled with distaste but his face stayed calm.

I snorted, made my way over to Atticus, and wrapped my arms around his neck, resting my head on the top of his. "I'm proud of you, Atty." He groaned at the nickname.

"Why do you smell like sweat?" he questioned, his head shifting under my cheek. Elijah pulled a face and Jasper walked right out of the room, done with this sibling interaction. Atticus must have caught onto something. "I'm going to shower," he announced, getting off his bed and stumbled into his bathroom, tripping over a stack of books just laying on the floor.

Amari giggled, flicking her party hat. She sat up on her knees and smiled innocently at me. "Oh, I wanted to ask you, could I invite more friends to this pool party?"

I gave her a flat look. "No."

"Just a few more." She held her hands together in a pleading gesture, pouting up at me. Guess she was back to normal. I fought a smile.

I raised an eyebrow. "How many is a few more?"

She shrugged. "Like ten overall."

"No."

"Please," she begged. Elijah rested his arms behind his head and laid back on Atticus' pillows.

"Two friends."

She stared at me. "Seven friends, I can cut the bitchy ones out but I'll never hear the end of it."

I folded my arms across my chest. "Cut a few more. Two friends total."

"At least five, I'll be so bored with all of Atticus' friends around, they don't like me," she grumbled, rolling her eyes at the idea of people not liking her.

"Two."

"You are being so mean," she said but her words didn't hold the usual heaviness in them. She was playing with me.

"That's fine, zero then," I answered with a hint of finality.

She scrambled off the bed. "No no no, two is fine, I'll take two."

I gave her a practiced smile. "Glad you agree. Go get dressed."

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Until next time,

Sammipott xx